If Audrey Hepburn fell in love and blossomed to luminous womanhood in Paris as Jo Stockton in FUNNY FACE, CHARADE -- Stanley Donen's very Hitchockian thriller complete with Saul Bass-like opening credits -- has her not only falling in love but in constant danger from some stylish baddies who are after some 250,000 dollars which her late husband stole during the war. A convoluted plot in which Cary Grant and Walter Matthau swap more identities than two schizophrenics suffering from multiple personality disorder, requiring us to look closely and keep a scoreboard, CHARADE is quite straightforward -- since everyone is after the 250,000 and Hepburn must rely on Grant for protection even if he may at times be shady, it's inevitable that a romance will develop even when things get hairy (and they do). Both Grant and Hepburn exude an irresistible charm as a couple and it's a pity they did not work together after this film because despite the constant twists and turns and identity changes in the plot, they're the ones who light up the screen on their presence alone. CHARADE was remade in 2002 as Jonathan Demme's THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE with Thandie Newton channeling Audrey every moment she was on screen in the lead role and Mark Wahlberg in the Cary Grant role.
